Josephus also details the village's capture during the First Jewish–Roman War by the Roman army under M. Ulpius Traianus and Titus in the spring of 67 CE.

[10] Victor Guérin noted that when one of the chambers was cleared out in 1869, a vase was found containing about two hundred coins of Roman emperors.

[12] The remains of a synagogue, initially reported by Vincent in the 1920s, were later excavated by Sukenik in 1950, confirming the site's identification.

The excavation of the building, which is approximately 19 meters long and oriented east-west, only revealed partial details of its plan.

Mosaic fragments discovered during the excavation hinted at a central motif — a large circle with 12 smaller dots — suspected to represent either a zodiac, or, as suggested by Sukenik, depicting the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

[13] Local medieval tradition holds that Zebedee and his two sons, the Apostles James and John lived in Yafa.

The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on wheat, barley, fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 2,200 akçe.

[22] In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as a "moderate-sized village in a strong position on the spur running from Nazareth down to Jebata.

A substantial portion of Yafa's population today are the descendants of internally displaced Palestinian Arabs from the neighbouring village of Ma'alul which was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli war.